The town of Glory is famous for two things: businesses that front for seedy, if not illegal, enterprises and the suicides that happen along the Indigo River. Marsden is desperate to escape the “bed-and-breakfast” where her mother works as a prostitute—and where her own fate has been decided—and she wants to give her little sister a better life. But escape means money, which leads Mars to skimming the bodies that show up along the Indigo River. It’s there that she runs into Jude, who has secrets of his own and whose brother’s suicide may be linked to Mars’s own sordid family history. As they grow closer, the two unearth secrets that could allow them to move forward . . . or chain them to the Indigo forever.
Praise
"For teens in search of strange premises and moody, atmospheric narratives"Booklist
—
"The book is captivating and unearthly, with beautifully poignant writing and elegantly drawn characters."Kirkus Reviews
—
"Enticingly eerie"Publishers Weekly
—
"The resolution that emerges is cleverly managed, and it gives readers as well as Mars a hopeful reprieve."The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
—
"There are twists and turns in the plot, and within the characters, that will surprise readers"School Library Connection
—
"Chapman’s darkly poetic narrative . . . takes a lyrical turn toward both love story and murder mystery, and leads readers to a satisfying and surprising conclusion."School Library Journal
—
"Along the Indigo is a dark, lyrical story . . . Readers interested in morbidly foreboding stories, however, will appreciate the dismal world Marsden is stuck in and her struggle to escape the clutches of her family’s past."VOYA Magazine
—
"In her prodigious Along the Indigo, Elsie Chapman leaves out nothing of their origins in grief, violence, ghostliness and loss . . . This superlative novel refuses to sugarcoat, does wonders with teenage relationships, and skillfully flips expectations to get at what it means to unbury the hidden. Secrets and mysteries send out tendrils everywhere. Engaging with them is a matter of salvation."Center for Fiction
—
